LeClairRyan adds 10 'bet the company' attorneys to Newark office

LeClairRyan has added 10 new attorneys to its Newark office, the law firm announced Monday.

The new hires have significant experience with “bet-the-company” cases, in which a company’s survival depends on the cost and outcome of a single lawsuit.

Those new additions include four partners and six associates, all of which come from the global law firm Clyde & Co.

Five professional staff members also are joining the firm.

The attorneys have worked extensively in franchise litigation, products liability and toxic tort claims, with a significant focus on defending casualty cases involving large-exposure, catastrophic events.

That experience will allow them to fit in well at LeClairRyan, said the firm’s chief executive, David Freinberg.

“Through the addition of our new colleagues, we are significantly increasing the experienced, complex litigation and trial services that LeClairRyan is able to offer,” Freinberg said in a statement. “These highly talented trial attorneys will be incredibly beneficial to solving our clients’ business challenges, whether their legal needs are in New Jersey or anywhere in the nation.”

Jeffrey O’Hara, one of the new partners at LeClairRyan, said he and his team have worked closely with attorneys from LeClairRyan in the past. So the move to join them made perfect sense.

“It’s just a very good match,” O’Hara said. “Finally we looked and said, ‘We should put these two pieces together.’”

O’Hara was also drawn to the firm on a cultural level, impressed by its philanthropic efforts.

“That kind of falls outside the billable hours and clients and practice concept. It’s bigger than that, which is what ultimately was a major factor,” O’Hara said in an interview. “They’re more than just great lawyers; they’re great people.”